Roasted Carrot Hummus

This has got to be one of my favorite homemade hummuses. The roasted carrots make it SO special! The roasting of the carrots does make this hummus a bit longer to prep, but it is worth it! I used FRESH chickpeas with this recipe, but if you do not have time to cook the chickpeas or do not have fresh chickpeas on hand, 2 boxes will do just fine.

This recipe makes a good amount of hummus. You can eat it all, give some to a friend, or store it in the fridge for the week and eat it with pita chips, cucumbers, celery and carrots.. is that weird to eat carrot hummus with carrots?

You will need some kind of bender for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 large sized carrots - roughly chopped
• EVOO for roasting carrots
• 2 tbs EVOO to put in HUMMUS while mixing
• salt (you will add salt to the carrots and then more to the hummus while mixing)
• pepper
• 1 cup raw dried chick peas (you will be cooking these, I did it in a crockpot just add water and cook for a couple hours on high) OR 2 Boxes/BPA free cans of chickpeas
•  1/4 cup tahini
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric 
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• Juice of 1/2 large lemon or 1 small lemon
• 1/2 cup-2/3 cup water - depends on how thick your hummus ends up being. Add water as needed.

Directions: 

* If using fresh chickpeas cook them according to package,

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• place roughly chopped carrots coated with EVOO, salt and pepper in the oven for about 20 minutes or until tender. 
• While carrots are cooking squeeze your lemon, measure out your 2 tbs of EVOO, 1/2 C tahini and all of your spices (cumin, paprika, turmeric and salt). 
• Dump the chickpeas, cooked carrots and all your mise en place (aka all the food you prepped) in the blender- don't forget your garlic clove.
• Blend and slowly add in water. You will need to pause and scrape down the sides and then start to blend again.
• Your hummus is done when it is smooth and all mixed. It will be a beautiful orange color and will taste AWESOME! You can serve it in a bowl and add a bit of EVOO to the top if you wish.

ENOY! XO

Creamy Cashewmilk Smoothie

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My two favorite kind of nuts are almonds and cashews. You will always find them in my pantry. I also love making my own almond and cashew milk, but sometimes I don't have the time. That's where Silk Cashewmilk comes in hand! Silk Cashewmilk is gluten, dairy and soy free and has 25% fewer calories than skim milk. It is so creamy and makes the best cashew milk smoothie!

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp turmeric

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• 1 frozen banana (if it's not frozen that is ok! I like to peel and freeze my over ripe bananas for smoothies)
• 1 Cup Unsweetened Silk Cashewmilk (I opt for the unsweetened version because the banana will add your natural sugar)
• 5 ice cubes

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Directions:

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend away until creamy smooth. There may be some mini ice chunks but I like that little crunch in my smoothie. Enjoy! What is your favorite  smoothie mixture?

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Silk Original Cashewmilk: 60 cal/serv; skim dairy milk: 80 cal/serv. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 27. Data consistent with typical skim dairy milk.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Silk through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated to write a post about Silk, all opinions are my own.

Turmeric Milk Recipe

As weird as turmeric milk sounds, it is actually quite delicious! I was reading some blogs and came across turmeric milk and knew I had to try it. I just finished my first half cup and I loved it! I do not think I could drink a whole cup, not just yet. This is a soothing drink that I think would be best to drink at night. 

Why turmeric? Read up on the many benefits of turmeric: here and here.  And check out my awesome turmeric dinner recipe here!

Turmeric milk is made of any kind of milk- usually coconut or almond milk- and then a small amount of turmeric and pepper. The pepper is added because pepper and turmeric go well together and help absorption. Some people like to add in ginger, I still  have not tried that.

I made my own homemade coconut milk:

• 1/4-1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2-1 cup HOT water, not boiling.
• Put in blender on high and blend for 2 minutes.

I doubled my cheese cloths and drained the milk right into a pot. Squeeze all the liquid out. There will be some coconut flesh in the cloth. I just tossed mine. I started with a 1/4 cup of coconut flakes and 1/2 water. I may up it next time if I feel adventurous.

NOTE* If you do not want to/do not have time to make your own homemade milk you can of course buy almond or coconut milk in a carton. I have used almond milk in a carton for my turmeric tea, and it was delicious.

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After the "milk" is made and in a pot, put fire on medium heat and add in 1/2 tsp of turmeric, some black pepper, and fresh ginger. If you do not have fresh ginger powdered is fine. If you need some sweetness add a medjool date to the mix and let it melt a little. Mix around and take the pot off the fire just before it starts to boil. Do not let it boil. Strain (optional), pour in a cup and enjoy!

You can be creative with what you add to your tea. I have added cinnamon and pumpkin spice to my tea. This was amazing, like a little treat! (image above) Just remember the base of the tea is the milk, turmeric and pepper. From there you can add whatever spices and sweeteners you wish!

This is a super helpful blog post about all the different kinds of "milks" and their nutritional value. 

I will be drinking this maybe once a week before bed. It is soothing, tasty, AND good for you! Have you ever tried turmeric milk? How do you make it?